S PECI AL F E ATU RE ADAPTING TO COVID-19 FOR THE FUTURE FIDI Focus speaks to industry leaders around the world to find out about the initial action movers took in the face of COVID-19 and how they think they will need to update operations for the future B ertil Durieux, President of FEDEMAC, says the short-term priority for most movers, indeed most businesses, is to ensure cash flow is maintained. For those renting offices, warehouses, storage and other facilities, this is critical to ensuring survival, he says. To keep at least some business flowing, necessity has driven the adoption of tech solutions that may now be an essential part of movers service mix. During the period of containment, many companies have used FaceTime or WhatsApp to perform home visits and volume and evaluations for estimates, he says. Without necessarily knowing it, these companies have demonstrated that new technologies could soon become crucial for companies looking to meet the new business challenge after the crisis. Homeworking can become a real asset and a clear strategy, rather than a reaction to the problem. New software, customer relationship management, video surveys, and so on can become a differentiating factor for companies. The adoption of specific requirements for removal teams and customers will be mandatory, so that everyone knows how to behave during a move. Meanwhile, Durieux says social distancing, wearing masks and gloves, and hand hygiene will have implications for workers. The COVID-19 crisis will have repercussions we cannot yet identify. Our sector, like many others, will suffer these consequences in the medium and long term. FIDIs Vice-President Laura Ganon, CEO at FINK Mobility, says, as the crisis took hold, the company moved all office personnel to homeworking, and introduced new cleaning procedures at the company facilities, along with training on hygiene and other preventative measures. To stop the WW W. F I D I. O R G FF297 JunJul20 pp31-35 Best practice.indd 31 possibility of staff becoming infected on public transport, FINK arranged for all employees to travel by private car. We already had an IT system that is completely GDPRcompliant and secure to be accessed from anywhere, she says. Also, we are a paperless company, so there was no stress in starting to work from home. Ganon says companies must plan a strategy for different outcomes of the pandemic, but that most businesses will undergo significant changes. Costcutting, a revision of what is essential and what is not, and replanning investments are probably on all CEOs agendas, she says. On the other hand, this is the time to be creative, and to look at this situation as an opportunity to learn and to become stronger than before as an individual and as a company. FIDI Board member Rob Chipman , of Asian Tigers Hong Kong, says he doesnt expect homeworking to replace office work, but that companies will be doing much more of it in the future. I think the business world is discovering that having a bunch of people in the same office, paying high commercial rents, is not that vital, he says. Working from home is a good supplement to the traditional office approach. It proves that other, less expensive and more efficient approaches to work are viable. However, he adds, while movers may save on their own admin costs, more homeworking may impact on the business itself. I fear that, for international movers, there may be some knock-on effects, he says, probably with a lessening of cross-border moves. I think the COVID-19 pandemic will accelerate the changes that have been occurring to the international moving industry for some time now. That is, fewer international assignments, less long term in nature, FIDI VICE-PRESIDENT LAURA GANON, OF FINK MOBILITY BERTIL DURIEUX, PRESIDENT OF FEDEMAC ROB CHIPMAN, ASIAN TIGERS HONG KONG 31 01/06/2020 14:58